Black Panther #1
Spies? Espionage? Conspiracy? Monarchy vs. democracy? Did not expect any of that from a Black Panther book, but the first issue of John Ridley’s run promises this series will have it all. The best part about it all is where T’Challa stands in the mess.
Marvel
Written by: John Ridley
Art by: Juann Cabal
Colors by Federico Blee
Letters: VC’s Joe Sabino
Ridley quickly takes a character everyone believes in and forces readers to ask themselves tough questions. And by telling this story without an internal monologue, it becomes even harder to side with T’Challa.
Black Panther isn’t solely going to be dealing with his home in all of this, either. Some Avengers are thrown in the mix, as well. Even with them, his leadership is being put to the test. It appears that’s the central theme in all of this: leadership. T’Challa wears many hats, and he’s experiencing some challenging transitions as a leader all at once. With some of the most important people in the world looking to him for guidance, can he sit on the sidelines while others make decisions on behalf of his home?
But, for all the promise the story has, the action sequences in Black Panther #1 leave a bit to be desired. With there being one right out the gate, that can easily disengage readers from the jump. The artwork is fine outside of the fights, but that’s almost always significant in a superhero comics. The story seems promising enough that it can work around it, but that was a bit of a letdown.
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